The Victorian Government has announced it will invest almost $100 million to revamp local businesses’ recycling systems, as a part of its 10-year Recycling Victoria plan.
The $96.5 million investment is designed to help local businesses implement better recycling processes, and utilise waste by making it available for end-market uses like recycled plastic in railway sleepers or recycled glass in footpaths.
The Victorian Government will double funding for businesses to invest in infrastructure to sort and reprocess recyclables for use in manufacturing. This $28 million boost will bring the total funding available through the Recycling Victoria Infrastructure Fund to $56 million.
Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews, said, “Victoria will lead the way in giving new life to old rubbish – transforming plastic into roads or coffee grounds into biodegradable cups.
“With this investment, we’ll drive new ideas and innovation. But most importantly, we’ll create new Victorian jobs.”
The package includes $30 million in grants to make Victoria a leader in recycling innovation – creating new products from recycled materials like glass, plastic, organics, electronic waste, concrete, brick and rubber.
The state government will also provide $10 million in grants to help businesses improve resource efficiency, reduce waste and increase recycling in their daily operations – saving them time and money.
A new $7 million Business Innovation Centre will bring together industry, universities and councils to develop new technologies and collaborate on creative solutions to waste challenges.
For waste that can’t be recycled, processors will also be able to access $10 million for waste-to-energy initiatives, minimising the amount of rubbish being sent to landfill, while $11.5 million will go towards treating hazardous waste – protecting the community from illegal chemical stockpiles.
Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio, said “This will position Victoria as a recycling leader, creating local jobs while giving waste a second life.”
The investment follows the Victorian Government’s decision to implement a container deposit scheme and rollout a new state-wide four-bin system for Victorian households to better collect and sort recyclables, and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
